At World's End
by SHSLAwesome
Summary: CONTAINS MAJOR ENDGAME SPOILERS The investigation team did not retrieve the murderer from the TV world. What will happen now that time is up. My first attempt at writing something dark. Any comments or criticisms are welcome. Rated M for Character Death


**A/N Hey, It's been a long time you guys! I'm sorry for not updating but I had a busy summer and now school's back and classes and homework and life, so yeah. I'm working on the chapters for Miracle and Scary Stories, but this idea popped into my head when I couldn't sleep one night. I tried writing it on fanfiction on my phone, but then Safari crashed and I lost all my progress :/. I've been working on this story in my Intermediate Programming class because right now we're reviewing stuff from Introductory Programming, so I know it already. Two distinct differences between this story and my other Persona stuff is that this is a lot darker, and I'm using Souji Seta instead of Yu Narukami. I don't really have a preference between the two, I'm just more familiar with the name Yu. **

**Finally, I'm sorry in advance.**

**It's a Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

It was quiet as Naoto ran through the shopping district. The otherworldly fog had grown thicker that night, and the young detective set out to investigate.

_This couldn't possible have anything to do with Adachi-san, could it?_

They had all felt so angry, so betrayed, that they had acted carelessly and had run out of time to retrieve the culprit from the other world. No one could have even imagined that the goofy, incompetent young police detective Tohru Adachi could be capable of such a cold-blooded crime. Even Naoto, the well-known Detective Prince, who had worked alongside Detective Adachi during the Inaba PD's investigation of the murders, never suspected a thing. The genius ace detective was just as shocked initially as the rest of her friends, though that shock quickly turned to anger.

_How could I have allowed myself to be fooled by such a ridiculous façade?! How could I allow my reasoning to falter while the culprit was right in front of my eyes?!_

Naoto chided herself internally as she continued looking for any clue to explain the sudden change in the fog. However, her silent self-berating was interrupted by a frighteningly familiar sound. The sound was like a low gurgle, ominous and malicious, as if the creature it originated from was out for blood. A strong feeling of dread and imminent danger rushed over the young detective, and she hurriedly put on her glasses. The fog cleared somewhat, and she could see well enough to confirm her suspicions.

"A-a shadow?!" Naoto stuttered, fear welling up inside her chest. "W-what is it doing here…?"

Naoto started to back away slowly, hoping the large blob of a shadow did not notice her presence. However, the creature turned in her direction, noticing the small human girl and becoming enraged. As if it knew Naoto was a persona user, it launched its attack, effectively taking the detective by surprise and knocking her off her feet. She stood up and ran, the sound of chains following at a distance that was too close for comfort.

~oOo~

Naoto ran through the streets under the blood red sky, desperately trying to shake the shadow that was following her. Though her energy was quickly being drained by the oppressing atmosphere, she still continued forward. The detective's pace quickened as she maneuvered around corners and down alleyways, evading her pursuer's attacks, and she silently begged her fatigued body to not give out on her.

She ran at a speed much faster than her tired body should have allowed and ducked down a dark alley. Even still she could not evade the shadow that pursued her. It followed and Naoto felt a powerful despair as she realized there was no escape from this nightmare.

Realizing she'd been cornered, Naoto used the last of her strength to pick up her phone and dial the number of the first person who came to mind. She scrolled the short contact list and found his name: Souji Seta.

~oOo~

It was midnight, and an unusually thick fog enshrouded the small town where he was staying for the year. Souji paced around, panic overwhelming his senses, as the fog began to come in from outside. _What's with this fog? It's been getting thicker lately, and now it's coming in my room. What the hell is going on?_

_PiPiPiPiPi…_

_Huh… It's Naoto!_

"Nao-"

"_S-Senpai! There are shadows all over town! I can't-"_

Souji heard Naoto gasp on the other end of the line.

…

"Naoto! NAOTO!"

~oOo~

_Senpai, please answer! I don't have much time left!_

_"__Nao-"_

She didn't even let him get a word in before she spat out everything that she saw. There were shadows in Inaba; it had to have something to do with Adachi. Naoto knew that she couldn't be saved now, but the least she could do was save the strong, quiet leader she came to love. Before she was able to tell him everything, she froze in fear. The poor young detective looked up into the eye of the shadow in front of her and gasped. It pointed one of its guns at her.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

…

_My only regret is that I never told him how I feel._

~oOo~

"Naoto! Please say something! Please answer me!" Souji's voice grew in volume as he ran out the front door of the Dojima Residence, katana in hand. "Don't worry, Naoto! I'm coming for you! Just hang in there a little longer!"

He ran through the town, looking for any sight of his younger classmate. _Naoto, where are you?_ A myriad of different scenarios rushed through his brain at the speed of light. She could be hurt. The shadows could have consumed her. She could be…_dead_.

He shook those thoughts from his mind. Souji knew better than anyone that panicking in the face of disaster would solve nothing. Strengthening his resolve, he pushed forward, looking for clues to help him find the blue-haired detective.

"Don't worry, Naoto, everything will be okay. I'll find you. I'll protect you. I'll _always_ protect you."

Suddenly, Souji was overcome with a feeling of dread and imminent doom that almost suffocated him. The sound of rattling chains grew closer, and Souji ducked behind a car that was parked on the street. A large, powerful shadow emerged from a dark alley. The shadow had a presence similar to that of death, itself. The shadow slowly continued on, thankfully not noticing the silver-haired boy who hiding nearby.

A horrifying thought rang through Souji's head and he ran at an inhuman speed down the alley from which the shadow had emerged only moments before. He pushed his body forward, doubtful and despairing thoughts flooding his senses. It was there in that cold, dark alley that the usually stoic silverette saw his worst fears realized. The sight alone made his world collapse around him as he became frozen in shock.

The broken body of the Detective Prince was lying cold on the ground. There was a distinct look of terror on the girl's beautiful pale face. Her lovely, soft skin was cold to the touch and there was the slightest trace of crimson from the corner of her mouth.

"No, no! Naoto, NO!" Souji exclaimed, crying out in agony at the sight. "Why…? Why did… you have to go… Naoto? Why did you… have to leave me behind…? ...Why… Naoto…?"

The despair he felt deep in his heart erupted from his core in a terrible cry of anguish. He held the girl to his chest, violently sobbing into her soft blue hair. "Dammit! This is all my fault! If only I hadn't been so careless… Naoto… I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry…"

As he held the broken body of his love, Souji's hand brushed against an object made of cold metal. He knew exactly what it was, and an idea came to him. He gripped the cold metal tightly.

"I love you, Naoto, and I'm sorry, but…I just can't imagine a life without you."

He closed his eyes, listened to his heart beat slowly…

…

…and pulled the trigger.

_If we are reborn one day, I hope we can be together again_

_My dear Naoto Shirogane_

**A/N I'm so sorry. I know I'm a terrible person. I cried writing the end. The end line of being reborn is a semi-reference to the vocaloid song Servant of Evil. **

**If you don't know, this is based off of the game over event if you don't beat Adachi and Ameno-Sagiri in time. Someone told me about that scene and I watched it. My heart ripped into a million pieces and I wanted to bawl my eyes out. **

**This is my first attempt at this type of dark story, so feel free to send me any comments or criticisms (not jerkish ones like "OMG U SUK" or something like that). Also feel free to send me a PM with any one-shot ideas. If it has the Protagonist involved, make sure to specify if you want him to be Yu Narukami or Souji Seta, because I don't mind writing either one. **

**Thank you for taking the time to read this and thank you for your patience with the other stories. Arigatou Gozaimasu!**


End file.
